Dyeing Day: A Glimpse into My Studio

Yesterday the whole family was snowed in. We live in Western New York, and my husband was one of the unfortunate souls who spent their night sitting on the highway, as shown on CNN. Luckily, he was able to get home by 9:30 am! He came home, went to sleep, and I sent the little girls off to grandma's for a while (she's next door). Because, despite the snow, and the need for quiet, it was my dyeing day!

I had two of four shippments of wool arrive by yesterday: Clun Forest roving and raw cream and brown Finn Sheep fleece. I was itching to boil something!

I'm fortunate enough to have a separate mini kitchen that I use as my dyeing studio. It hasn't been re-decorated yet, so please over-look the tile and general decor. But feel free to bask in the glorious mess.

My son asked if I felt like a mad scientist while dyeing. I immediately said yes, but I think I'm going to have to tell him I prefer "genius scientist."

Some fleece being dyed-up a nice, blood red (even though it looks orange in this light):

A dirty Finn fleece getting a bath:

Some finished work drying:

Finished rovings drying (good use of laundry baskets!):

And what kind of genius scientist would I be without an arch nemesis?

Dum, dum, dum . . .

LAUNDRY!!!! (said with a shriek of horror) I fought hard against it yesterday, but the war isn't over.

Have a great Fiber Arts Friday! Follow the link to other great blogs about fiber!

Deep in the Heart of Texas

This month's Phat Fiber theme is "The Music Box," and I've interpreted my song of choice (Deep in the Heart of Texas) through my fiber content as well as my color choices. But for all the fanatics, here's the song:

The stars at night, are big and bright,
deep in the heart of Texas,
The prairie sky is wide and high,
deep in the heart of Texas.
The sage in bloom is like perfume,
deep in the heart of Texas,
Reminds me of, the one I love,
deep in the heart of Texas.

The coyotes wail, along the trail,
deep in the heart of Texas,
The rabbits rush, around the brush,
deep in the heart of Texas.
The cowboys cry, "Ki-yip-pee-yi,"
deep in the heart of Texas,
The dogies bawl, and bawl and bawl,
deep in the heart of Texas.

My Aunt Betty gave me a music box when I was a child that played the song.

Though not in the song, the heart of Texas, for me, are the cotton fields and cotton farming (as discussed here in the cotton post). And I wanted to feature my uncle's West Texas cotton in my mini batt samples.

Just a reminder what a small (yet huge when it's in your living room) bale of cotton looks like:

And here are this month's samples:

Well, they at least have burlap around them! I had to make them a little prettier than a real bale in order to show off the fibers. And speaking of fiber, here are the ingredients in raw form:

Clockwise from far left are natural cream BFL, blend of turquoise Shetland and turquoise Firestar, chocolate BFL, and a blend of cotton and Peruvian wool.  The final, full-sized batts have twice the percentage of the turquoise as the samples. Here's the full-sized, 2.25 oz. batt:

They'll be available at the release of the video (around Dec. 10) and then again when the boxes arrive on doorsteps!

I'll also have many, many batts available with cotton for sale throughout December. The finished yarn has a great tweed texture, and it's fun to spin!

To wrap up my Texas cotton theme for the month, my parents were in town for Thanksgiving, all the way from Granbury, Texas! And they helped me assemble all the little samples!

Samplings and Techniques

With my first ever Phat Fiber box, I decided to try some new techniques with all the little samples. Here's a review of what I've tried so far:

From Mama Jude's sample:

She had some great fibers in a cone sleeve just like a Christmas tree! And she added twinkle lights for us to play with. Play I did, but my technique is seriously lacking. I spun her fiber thick/thin and then plyed it with some smooth Corriedale/Alpaca I made.

I tried spinning in the lights, and to my credit they are technically in there and not coming out, but they dangle. They're not suppose to dangle. I need to work on my spinning add ins! I think I need to actually get out the book for that one!

I also need to get a flyer that is a little more appropriate for large add ins!

For my second technique try, I decided to follow Jacie Bogg's tutorial from the Winter 09 issue of Spin Off for making coils (or beehives). Here's how it went:

 

 The fiber is from Sky Loom Weavers and titled "Harvest." It's 100% Merino, which is the perfect fiber for coils! It drafted beautifully and was quite the pleasure to spin!

The yarn that is plied with it is from Rocky Mountain Dyeworks and was a 3-ply yarn that I separated into 1 ply for an almost cobweb weight. The colorway is called "Northern Lights" and matched "Harvest" wonderfully!!

I'm giving myself a break from being too critical of my attempt, because even Jacie Boggs says it takes a few trys.

Also, when the thick sections were too thick, they were catching on my flyer and hooks, so maybe my husband needs to make me a new flyer for specialty yarns! (He built my spinning wheel, so he's my only shot at a larger flyer!)

Here are my good coils:

Here are my bad coils:

I'd say it's about 50/50 for the good to bad ratio. And it's very over-spun. I think a few more practice runs and I'll have it down. Now . . . what to knit with beehive yarn? Any suggestions?

Never Say Never!

OK, I'm going to be a teeny, tiny bit spiritual here, and then I promise I'll jump into fiber. Just hang in there!

All my life, the Lord has been whittling away parts of me that are judgmental and opinionated. I think that's a good thing, BUT He really likes to do it by putting me in the exact same position as those I have judged. Not so fun, but an affective way to teach a lesson. I've been through just about everything, and I'm pretty good at looking at about every situation with a very compassionate view at this point in my oh-so-long life.

However, I've just been taught yet another lesson, and it's a fiber-y one!

About 6 years ago, I remember watching an episode of "Knitty Gritty" with a woman who had combed her friend's dog, spun the fiber and then knit a little purse out of it. My naive 26-year-old, non-spinning self said, "She's crazy" and "that's gross."

Never say never!

Today, my 33-year-old, spinning-obsessed self just shaved our standard poodle and threw his fur in a hot soapy bath. I am now that crazy lady! But all the cool spinners are doing it, and I don't want to be left out. Besides, when you have a great, large, spotted dog like I have, it's hard not to think about all the "what if's" when petting him.

Here's Hunter post-shave (I left a little mohawk for him!)

Isn't he handsome?

He's called a party poodle because of his spots. Hmmm . . . he's a poodle, he's a party, he's shaved, he's got a (temporaty) pink collar: we really don't mean to emasculate our male animals, it just happened that way!

Anyway, here's a shot of his washed locks, still dripping in my studio sink.

That's as far as I've gotten this morning.  I have no idea if this will work, or what it'll be like. My husband wants a hat made out of it. But seriously, what man wants to say he's wearing a poodle hat?! Now he's the crazy one. But just watch, next I'll have pictures of him in a poodle hat!

I have learned a few things so far:

• Dogs smell worse than sheep when wet
• Dogs are as dirty as, if not more than sheep
• I'm more allergic to dog than sheep
• When we get sheep, we may have them in the house, and send Hunter out to the barn. They're cleaner.
• Hunter needs baths more often.

I'll keep you all updated as this saga progresses! AND, I've updated last week's post to include the original batt that Joyce's scarf came from (thanks for the tip Andrea!)

Now go head over to Fiber Arts Friday to get your week's worth of fiber fun! Lot's of great blogs talking about lots of great fiber topics!

Update on Sunday, November 21, 2010 at 11:04PM by Willow Glen Farm

I've learned a few more things while working with this poodle fiber!

• Poodle has guard hairs (you can see it in the photos).
• My son makes a terrible sheerer (a LOT of second cuts).
• If I do this again, I'll only take the very top of the fleece (from his back) and no lower than half-way down the sides. The hair is longer there and more spin-friendly.
• It's not as soft as I thought, but much softer than it looks. I know, it looks like twine!
• If I actually get all this spun into yarn, and make Mike a hat, I'm going to need stock in Allegra (an allergy medicine!).
• My husband is now set on getting a hat. Good grief, what have I started?

Some photos of progress:

Poodle on the bobbinBeauty shot of small sample of 2-ply yarn. I've separated out the dark brown to spin alone.Another beauty shot.

November's Phat Fiber Box: Season of Light

It's here!!! I'm just giddy!

It was waiting on my door when I got home this afternoon, and I had enough sense to open it close to my light box so I could take pictures, but I couldn't wait for my lights to warm up, so some of the pictures are a little dark!

The box:

ALL the stuff:

The Fluff:

The Yarns:

The patterns, stitch markers, candle and cards:

There were a few things I didn't get, so I'm going to have to go see if samples are available at shops. All my samples sold out at my shop, so I've listed more tea lights in different colorways. It's been a busy week!